Ernest Foss Jr.’s life journey took him from stints as a studio rock musician and jam band balladeer to IT specialist, and locations from San Francisco to the East Bay and, ultimately, to Paradise.

Although music was his central passion, Foss, 63, also was an avid photographer who privately chronicled the history of his hometown San Francisco — he was a McAteer High grad in the 1970s — in an array of black-and-white prints.

“He was a jack of all trades,” said Angela Loo, Foss’ daughter.

Loo said she has an encyclopedic knowledge of rock music that Foss passed down to her and her late brother, Erik.

“His love of music, all kinds of music, our minds are like a library now,” she said. “He was such a hippie dad! My friends would tell me, ‘Your dad is so cool!’”

Foss moved to Paradise in the past decade after a lifetime in San Francisco and the East Bay. For such a social butterfly, being bedridden in the final years of his life was difficult, Loo said. But he always kept up his spirit, especially when his grandchildren were around.

“He had a tough life. It was never easy. But he never gave up,” Loo said. “His perseverance and resilience, he was eternally hopeful. And he was always good at expressing gratitude.”

In the remnants of his Paradise home, Loo and her family searched through the rubble to find the ashes of Foss’ late wife, Linda, and did their best to gather what they believed to be her remains. Foss wanted his ashes to be spread with hers, and they desperately wanted to fulfill that wish.

Loo said family members ultimately hope to remember Foss again in his element, with a music-filled memorial in his hometown.

“He wanted a big party in Golden Gate Park, which is where he used to jam all the time,” she said.

Robert Salonga is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter covering criminal justice and public safety for The Mercury News. A San Jose native, he attended UCLA and has a Master's degree in journalism from the University of Maryland. He previously reported in Washington, D.C., Salinas and the East Bay, and is a middling triathlete. Reach him the low-tech way at 408-920-5002.